S.I.R. 100W SuperLead Schematic pt. II

[gluke]

2k7/.68/.022/1n+470k/5n

10k//.22u /.022/470p+470k/470k

3k3/.68/.022

820

500p/33k

100k/.1

Looked back through the pages and realized that current spec ended up very close to this.

[gluke]

Well because this is what I do whenever I have the house to myself.....

WTTJ:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q57LM46fdME

WTTJ Solo1:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9qf8ezgUO4

WTTJ Solo2:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCrXuVAkTcQ

A few thoughts on this mod:

If the real FL #36 mod is anything like this spec it is almost what I would consider an unsellable mod. These clips are done with gains on 3 and 4 and I don't know any guitar player that would buy an amp and set the gains there. The only reason I set them there is because of Duke's guidance otherwise I would probably set them somewhere else and dismiss this version of the spec altogether. Now I think maybe this could be part of the reason why FL didn't talk so much about this mod? I don't know, as I never got a chance to to correspond with him, but I'm pretty sure if I lend this amp to any of my friends without a clear instruction on the gain settings I would get it right back being told it sounds like crap.

It records better than it sounds in person. When I listen back to the clips they usually sound better than it did standing in front of the amp playing it. It's really odd and usually the complete opposite of any other amps I got.

It's still freakin loud and those 6550s are relentless. There is no sweetspot, just loud and louder than loud....... My ears are still ringing after every damn time I turn this amp on.

[dukeamps]

Well because this is what I do whenever I have the house to myself.....

WTTJ:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q57LM46fdME

WTTJ Solo1:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9qf8ezgUO4

WTTJ Solo2:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCrXuVAkTcQ

A few thoughts on this mod:

If the real FL #36 mod is anything like this spec it is almost what I would consider an unsellable mod. These clips are done with gains on 3 and 4 and I don't know any guitar player that would buy an amp and set the gains there. The only reason I set them there is because of Duke's guidance otherwise I would probably set them somewhere else and dismiss this version of the spec altogether. Now I think maybe this could be part of the reason why FL didn't talk so much about this mod? I don't know, as I never got a chance to to correspond with him, but I'm pretty sure if I lend this amp to any of my friends without a clear instruction on the gain settings I would get it right back being told it sounds like crap.

It records better than it sounds in person. When I listen back to the clips they usually sound better than it did standing in front of the amp playing it. It's really odd and usually the complete opposite of any other amps I got.

PS you might need to change the second stage to 10k .22u to offset the gain.

It's still freakin loud and those 6550s are relentless. There is no sweetspot, just loud and louder than loud....... My ears are still ringing after every damn time I turn this amp on.

Sounds good. Just for a bit of fun if you wanted to, you could maybe try a 1k5 22u on the first stage. Don't worry about the gains being on 3 and 4, if you've ever played the JVM you can't go any higher than 3 or 4 on the gains.

PS you might need to change the second stage to 10k .22u to offset the gain.

[gluke]

Sounds good. Just for a bit of fun if you wanted to, you could maybe try a 1k5 22u on the first stage. Don't worry about the gains being on 3 and 4, if you've ever played the JVM you can't go any higher than 3 or 4 on the gains.

PS you might need to change the second stage to 10k .22u to offset the gain.

That I can try ‘cause my own amps have a Blackface Fender clean channel so I gots a bunch of those parts laying around. No, never played a JVM, not tried any Marshall after JCM800...... usually set gains between 6-9 on everything...... if I doesnt sound good it’s meh.....

Funny you added that, ‘cause I was just fireing up the grill thinking that 1k5 would be very gainy so maybe I should go back to 10k. Clear sign you spend to much time on amps when you are debating cathode caps/resistors in your head whilst grilling dinner.........

Now I have something to do over the weekend again!!!

[CoffeeTones]

Well because this is what I do whenever I have the house to myself.....

WTTJ:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q57LM46fdME

WTTJ Solo1:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9qf8ezgUO4

WTTJ Solo2:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCrXuVAkTcQ

A few thoughts on this mod:

If the real FL #36 mod is anything like this spec it is almost what I would consider an unsellable mod. These clips are done with gains on 3 and 4 and I don't know any guitar player that would buy an amp and set the gains there. The only reason I set them there is because of Duke's guidance otherwise I would probably set them somewhere else and dismiss this version of the spec altogether. Now I think maybe this could be part of the reason why FL didn't talk so much about this mod? I don't know, as I never got a chance to to correspond with him, but I'm pretty sure if I lend this amp to any of my friends without a clear instruction on the gain settings I would get it right back being told it sounds like crap.

It records better than it sounds in person. When I listen back to the clips they usually sound better than it did standing in front of the amp playing it. It's really odd and usually the complete opposite of any other amps I got.

It's still freakin loud and those 6550s are relentless. There is no sweetspot, just loud and louder than loud....... My ears are still ringing after every damn time I turn this amp on.

Let's call this constructive criticism with good intentions. Not to be completely negative, and nothing personal with Nigel. Although the basic tone is in the ball park, those clips sound like a garbled mess. The amp is too loaded up and subdued / constricted IMO. All the other clips of that spec sound pretty much the same to me. I realize you are experimenting and having fun, and I as well as others are enjoying sharing the process. Usually a good sound gets a few positive comments at least. Everyone sure has been quiet about those recent clips.

[CoffeeTones]

If you take that MK7 topology and plop another modest gain stage in somewhere, you might find the golden egg. Many times modders follow a trend like that and I'd bet that many 80's rock records have MK7 lineage amp tones on them. I might not put a snubber on stage 1 plate since that stage is not peaked much. I'd try snubbing one of the later stages unless the stage 1 snubber is made necessary by some behavior. I doubt .68uF presence will work with the MK7 since the first stage is passing most frequencies. I may do that mod myself in a few days. There is a JCM 800 circuit just sitting here

[gluke]

Let's call this constructive criticism with good intentions. Not to be completely negative, and nothing personal with Nigel. Although the basic tone is in the ball park, those clips sound like a garbled mess. The amp is too loaded up and subdued / constricted IMO. All the other clips of that spec sound pretty much the same to me. I realize you are experimenting and having fun, and I as well as others are enjoying sharing the process. Usually a good sound gets a few positive comments at least. Everyone sure has been quiet about those recent clips.

Well you know, my approach might not be easily digestable for all. I take all hints and suggested specs and stuff them right into my amp and try to make a clip of most of them so people can hear what they sound like.

Now that is a bit different from fine tuning "a spec" or "the best spec" to you get what you want. So yeah it goes a bit all over the place, but keep in mind we are still 2-3 parts away from any suggested spec so far and as I mentioned on the top this current one is 2 parts away from your own suggestion from 2 pages ago and rest assure it was in there on the way. Non of the specs are lost either so it all here documented with clips. Will we get there? I don't now and don't really mind if we don't as I usually get mildly depressed whenever I finish something as then I have nothing to do for a while.....

I am just glad I wasn't then one working at Marshall when they did the AFD project 'cause I wouldn't want to be doing this on a deadline knowing that Slash will be testing the amp in the end......

[CoffeeTones]

I understand. It's all for the sake of discussion. If you think about it, the Jose amp with one less stage is a lot of gain over a few stages, and on the edge. Add another 10k stage with bypassed cathode or bypass the 4th stage, and you are really on the edge. Add a .68uF presence, that's more gain. Add a 5n bright and more gain is passed through. Then you have to start dumping gain to ground, increasing NFB, mitigating squeal and blocking distortion, and rolling back controls which makes the bright cap more bright.

Yeah, your current spec is somewhat close to a spec I listed, but when you are on this edge, small physical changes equal big changes in tone and behavior. 10k with bypass is smoother and more controlled than 5k7 stage with bypass. .68 presence would be changed and NFB around 68k to 100k. 50k NFB is too bland IMO. I would change, relocate or delete the 5n bright cap, but I realize you like it a lot.

I'm not pushing you to use the spec I listed, it was just one I remember trying. It's not a big deal, I just like to give constructive criticism and listen to the evolution of these amps.

[gluke]

I'm not pushing you to use the spec I listed, it was just one I remember trying.

But but butt....... I was trying to say, I'v tried the spec you listed! I'v tried all of them! But when I'm soldering parts in and out I don't stop and record all of them. Usually I solder stuff in and out for an hour or two until my ears are tired and then record the final spec. But if you suggested a spec it has been in my amp and if you want I'll record it too. It's a bit random which ones gets recorded depending on just what I'm trying to do. Re-working on the shielded wiring or comparing silver mika to ceramic caps doesn't really make sense to record.

A lot of this has been two steps forward and one step back. Some of the specs are over the top and needs to go back, but I want to make sure which parts of the spec I like and which I don't before I go back. There is usually always something in there to learn from and keep and other stuff you want to get rid of. I do believe the current layout is all right but the spec it's not there and as I already mentioned, I really struggle with a circuit that needs the gains that low. It doesn't make any sense to me, but that's just me, I want then around 6-8, so Duke's settings gives me something to aim for.

[Unique]

Something to keep in mind with this mod, when your thinking how you want to use your gain set high, like 6 to 8, on AFD, if I remember correctly, Slash had the gain set somewhere between 2 - 4, depending on the song and the parts played. I read this a long time ago, but I can't remember where, it has always stuck in my mind. Most recorded tones that sound like they have the gain cranked are usually much lower. Too high of a gain setting can more easily get berried in the mix. However, with #36 being a modded amp, having a lower gain setting around 2 to 4 would probably be like setting the gain on a stock amp around 6 to 8. With my #34 modded JCM, when the preamp is set around 2, it has about as much gain as a stock JCM does around 6, maybe even to 8, depending on the preamp tubes used. And that's without the extra tube gain stage like #36 has. So my thinking is, if you need to set your gain up that high to get the AFD tones, then maybe something is off somewhere? I could be wrong, and my thinking is based off of mis-information from some time ago, but it seems to make sense when I think about it in context compared to my amp.

[dukeamps]

Something to keep in mind with this mod, when your thinking how you want to use your gain set high, like 6 to 8, on AFD, if I remember correctly, Slash had the gain set somewhere between 2 - 4, depending on the song and the parts played. I read this a long time ago, but I can't remember where, it has always stuck in my mind. Most recorded tones that sound like they have the gain cranked are usually much lower. Too high of a gain setting can more easily get berried in the mix. However, with #36 being a modded amp, having a lower gain setting around 2 to 4 would probably be like setting the gain on a stock amp around 6 to 8. With my #34 modded JCM, when the preamp is set around 2, it has about as much gain as a stock JCM does around 6, maybe even to 8, depending on the preamp tubes used. And that's without the extra tube gain stage like #36 has. So my thinking is, if you need to set your gain up that high to get the AFD tones, then maybe something is off somewhere? I could be wrong, and my thinking is based off of mis-information from some time ago, but it seems to make sense when I think about it in context compared to my amp.

[gluke]

Sounds good. Just for a bit of fun if you wanted to, you could maybe try a 1k5 22u on the first stage.

It’s in. I have to double check ‘cause it sounded nothing like what I expected. Maybe I’m gainwashed from all the gain in those previous specs......

Will make some clips as soon as I got the house to myself.

[gluke]

Not much time so excuse my sucky playin. Here’s a quick clip.

WTTJ:
https://youtu.be/euSd5kSKAZM

[gluke]

Nightrain:
https://youtu.be/rdHbGUixkmE

[gluke]

That is with the gains on 3,5 and 2.